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What Is Vena?
Vena is a Complete Planning platform that helps organizations streamline financial and operational planning, reporting and analysis processes. With a familiar Excel interface, AI-powered insights and a centralized database that connects and consolidates your data, you can improve productivity, free up time for analysis and plan for any scenario with confidence.
Who Uses Vena?
Vena is perfect for finance and accounting teams looking for Excel-based FP&A software. Today, over 1,800 companies use Vena's award-winning platform to streamline budgeting, reporting and analysis.
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Reviews of Vena
Effective and reliable auditing and accounting tool
Comments: Overall, we have managed to save time, enhance our workflows, establish a single data version accessible to all participants in the process.
Pros:
Vena leverages the robustness and user friendly interface of Microsoft Excel, simplifying the process for users to work with familiar spreadsheets while enhancing control, data integrity, and collaboration features. Vena streamlines the consolidation of data from multiple sources, facilitating centralized and automated data aggregation. It can extract data rom various sources such as databases and ERP systems, reducing the reliance on manual data collection and the potential for human errors.
Cons:
Creating intricate custom templates can be a time consuming endeavor. The process can become frustrating when building reports with intricate details, especially if the report malfunctions or is incorrectly mapped.
Accounts and resource management application
Comments: This is the most suitable tool that I can recommend to other business enterprises for budgeting and planning. It is fast and more convenient in data conversion as compared to other platforms.
Pros:
It is easy to integrate with other applications in the organization. Vena can be customized to suit business budgeting demands.
Cons:
The cost of deployment and setup is high.
Coming full circle - back to excel?
Comments: I have used a handful of popular systems in my 10-year career. When I first heard of Excel focused planning tools I was at first excited. How can a system that solves for the very tool that all of finance uses go wrong? In the beginning, FPA wanted to get out of Excel and have one version of the truth. Then the industry pivoted back to Excel with a bunch of intermixed features between Excel and cloud solutions workflow. With that, issues arise such as..If everything is Excel based, is it just easier to use Excel? Sadly Vena, and many others like them, fall short with the basic product offering equation. What problem are you actually solving for? The balance between a native Excel feeling and the Vena software controlling it feels under-developed. And how can it not be? If you solve for Excel then you stray from the Vena platform, if you focus on Vena platform you move away from Excel. The result is a mediocre product at best. Here is a basic example. In Excel you can group columns, easy. In Vena, you can write simple code on the report to hide a column. In the same report you can use one or the other, or both, the results are reports with frustrating formatting quirks. Though there are some pluses to Vena, I would think twice about committing to it as it is not a robust planning tool. The main question you, the user, should ask is the following.” Do I buy into the future where Excel (a system owner my Microsoft) really the future of financial planning software?
Pros:
Honestly, if you have used other planning software, I can not really say there is much.
Cons:
• No web interface that shows your financials. All financials must be displayed through reports that you build through Excel. Yes, you can pull intersection data and get a dump, but that is cumbersome. • Loading headcount takes up to an hour to load since it needs to be customized. • Mapping a report takes too long. You must map not just columns and rows, but the “page”, or global like dimensions. Vena should be smart enough to know this without the user, it is not. • Mapping a report takes way too much space. You can not nest a query within a cell. • Hard running a report with two global assumptions. You have to create another intersection mapping. • Hard to audit a complicated report, hence you are incentivized not to, therefore what is the point? • Reports and input sheets can exist on the same report sheet. Though useful at times, it is easy to override data and can get confusing. Though you sometimes have to do it for modeling purposes. • The software learning curve peaks too early. I understand having a simple software, but not at the expense of functionality. • Writing intricate code to help automate financial planning is not practical. There is only a primitive editor, and no result box that guides you. Our consultants told us do not even try because they seldom touch it. Specifically, it is extremely hard to validate what is occurring. • Building a three-statement model is a disaster. Imagine building a balance sheet, but not being able to pull a number from the
Outstanding sales performance reporting product
Comments: The financial reporting based on data analytics has helped us to set achievable objectives. Team collaboration has been enhanced which helps teams to focus on potential business gains and avoid bottlenecks. The recorded growth has indicated that Vena is the most efficient business planning tools that accelerate achievement of set goals.
Pros:
Vena provides best budgeting tools that helps each department to set realistic goals on projects. It tracks performance of sales and marketing programs from the company websites. It helps us to focus on more productive business programs and manage resources effectively. The planning system has mitigated risks with real-time insights.
Cons:
This tool has simplified key business programs and I totally like it. I have not observed low key indicators from the overall performance.
Vena is the Effective and Reliable Auditing and Accounting Easy Tools.
Comments: Suitable to create accurate and professional real time data analytics and the access control features are quite profitable.
Pros:
I really like how Vena reports on various project financial data and the tools for workflow management and easy to manage multiple transactions data securely. The easy insights obtaining and sharing financial reports across teams is amazing.
Cons:
Highly effective cost management and resource management tool and no error at all from Vena functions and capabilities.
